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Did you know that scrapbooking is an activity that dates back to the 1400s in England as a way to preserve poems, recipes or memories? Scrapooking is much the same today, but is generally more creative. It’s a trendy way to freeze those warm, cuddly memories for years to come.
Any man or woman can scrapbook; it’s up to you whether you want to be a minimalist or over-the-top artist. With that being said, let’s explore what it takes to be a scrapbooking queen (or king!).
You can be as out-of-the box as you want to be, but the general rule of scrapbooking is to have a theme.Which holidays, people or adventures will your album cover? Is the theme family vacations? A timeline of your relationship? Road-trip fun with friends? Once you’ve figured this out, you can begin to piece together which memories would fit in best with your collection.
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Now that you have your theme in mind, you can start picking out which pictures and memorabilia you have kept that will add depth to your scrapbook. Some artifacts like concert tickets or receipts will act as fun time stamps. For instance, you might want to keep an ad for a toy you used to have as a visual memory of the fun months you spent playing. Warning: You may catch a case of nostalgia while you’re gathering photos for the album, but if you can indulge and get back to work, you’re ready to take the next step.
Keep in mind that this book will be the keeper of your memories – so chose their bindings wisely. Do you want a sturdy book so you don’t have to worry about tearing while the kids can flip through the pages? Do you want the album to evoke a sense of ethereal delicateness? Your options include three-ringed style notebooks, a post-bound book (a book that you can screw and unscrew to let add more pages) and a bound book with no removable pages. The latter is the kind typically associated with scrapbooking. This decision will set the tone for how you will approach your memories in the future.
This includes the paper you will use, any embellishments, stickers, craft scissors, cardstock and tape. Plenty of stores will carry the needed materials. Go crazy! Get colorful tapes to line the pages or 3D stickers to give your pages a pop of personality. You even have a variety of scissor to choose from; some make the pages curvy, zig-zagged or other shapes. Think of this step as the building blocks of the design. The quality of these tools will show in the work you do. You want your creation to look its best, especially when it includes something as precious as your family’s life story.
This is a really fun step. Once you have gathered all the materials you will need, you will have to determine which of your photos correspond with the space provided. You also have to take into account which stickers you want or what other embellishments you think will look good on the page. Once you have settled on a specific layout, you can crop your photos accordingly. When you’re happy with the initial design, you can start adding putting each page together.
Adding captions is the most necessary step in scrapbooking. Captions let the both you and the reader know what’s going on when years have passed and you’ve forgotten the details. Captions are also a fun way to make light of the good memories or to preserve inside jokes. They can also be sweet one line letters to your loved ones or loving remembrances of family members who have passed away. Although captions are not always necessary for every photo, they are a great way to keep the photo’s details alive.
At this point, you should step back and admire the results of all your hard work. You spent hours, maybe even days or weeks creating this scrapbook. This is the time to see how your hard work and patience payed off – now you have a physical manifestation of your favorite moments with your family or friends. At this point, you can also help you make any adjustments or add anything else that you might have missed. When you’re done, show your loved ones so that you can all enjoy the results of your hard work together.
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This step isn’t necessary. However, if you find yourself liking scrapbooking much more than you intended, you can turn it into a career! FrugalMom has a list of possible scrapbooking-related professions that include scrapbooking instructor, direct sales consultant or even a professional scrapbook artist. Turn that passion for crafts into a way to personal and financial fulfillment.
Scrapbooking can be such a rewarding activity. If you choose to extend your craft outside of your own circle of loved ones, you can help others make their memories live forever as well.
